Billy Strayhorn, photographed by Carl Van Vechten on 14. August 1958

Billy Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 - May 31, 1967) was an American composer and pianist, perhaps most famous for having written "Take the A Train" and for his collaboration with Duke Ellington. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (815x1024, 64 KB) Licensing Billy Strayhorn on 14 Aug 1958 Photo by Carl Van Vechten Credit Line: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, LC-USZ62-114529 DLC ) File links The following pages link to this file: Billy... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (815x1024, 64 KB) Licensing Billy Strayhorn on 14 Aug 1958 Photo by Carl Van Vechten Credit Line: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, LC-USZ62-114529 DLC ) File links The following pages link to this file: Billy... Photographic self-portrait by Carl Van Vechten, 1934 Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining, as the last day of May. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Take the A Train is a jazz song by Billy Strayhorn, referring to the subway service that runs through New York City, going at that time from eastern Brooklyn up into Harlem and northern Manhattan, using the express tracks in Manhattan. ... Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz composer, pianist and bandleader. ...

Strayhorn began his musical career in Pittsburgh, where he studied for a time at the Pittsburgh Music Institute, wrote a high school musical and, while still in his teens, composed "Lush Life," a work that had all the world weariness of a much older man. He first met Duke Ellington backstage after an Ellington performance in Pittsburgh in 1938, where he first told, and then showed, the band leader how he would have arranged one of Duke's own pieces. Duke was impressed enough to invite other band members to hear Strayhorn. At the end of the visit he arranged for Strayhorn to meet him when the band returned to New York. Strayhorn worked for Ellington for the next quarter century until his death from cancer. Nickname: The Steel City Location in Pennsylvania Founded  -Incorporated 1758   County Allegheny County Mayor Tom Murphy (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 151. ...

Strayhorn's relationship with Ellington was always difficult to pin down: he was a gifted composer and arranger who seemed to flourish in Duke's shadow. Ellington may have taken advantage of him, but not in the mercenary way that others had taken advantage of Ellington; instead, he used Strayhorn to complete his thoughts, while giving Strayhorn the freedom to write on his own and at least some of the credit he deserved. Strayhorn, for his part, may have preferred to stay out of the limelight, since that also allowed him to be out of the closet in an era and a community that did not tolerate gay artists. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Strayhorn composed the band's theme, "Take The A Train," and a number of other pieces that became part of the band’s repertoire. In some cases they were listed as Strayhorn compositions ("Lotus Blossom," “Chelsea Bridge,” "Rain Check," "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" and "Mid-Riff"), while others were listed as collaborations with Ellington ("Day Dream," "Something to Live For") or were credited to Ellington alone ("Satin Doll," "Sugar Hill Penthouse," "C-Jam Blues"). On the other hand, Ellington gave Strayhorn full credit as his collaborator on later, larger works such as Such Sweet Thunder, A Drum Is a Woman, The Perfume Suite and The Far East Suite, where Strayhorn and Ellington worked closely together.

Strayhorn also had a tremendous impact on the Ellington band for the two decades in which he arranged for him. Ellington always wrote for the personnel he had at the time, showcasing both the personalities and sound of soloists such as Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Ben Webster, Lawrence Brown and Jimmy Blanton, and drawing on the contrasts between players or sections to create a new sound for his band. Strayhorn brought a more linear, classically schooled ear to Ellington’s works, setting down in permanent form the sound and structures that Ellington sought. John Cornelius Johnny Hodges (b. ... Harry Carney (1910 - 1974) was a jazz baritone saxophone player best known for his 45 year tenure in Duke Ellingtons band. ... Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 - September 20, 1973) was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... Lawrence Brown (1907-September 5, 1988) was a jazz trombonist from Kansas. ... Jimmy Blanton (1918 – July 30, 1942) was an American jazz double bassist. ...

Strayhorn’s own work, particularly his pieces written for Johnny Hodges on alto saxophone, often had a bittersweet, languorous flavor. He wrote his last pieces while dying from cancer of the esophagus; he delivered his last piece, “Blue Cloud,” to Ellington while in the hospital. Ellington included that piece, renamed “Blood Count,” on the album, And His Mother Called Him Bill, that he recorded several months after Strayhorn's death as a tribute to his friend and collaborator. John Cornelius Johnny Hodges (b. ... Alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a family of woodwind instruments invented by Adolphe Sax. ... When normal cells are damaged or old they undergo apoptosis; cancer cells, however, avoid apoptosis. ...

Samples

• Download sample of "Take the A-Train" composed by Billy Strayhorn.

References

• Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, David Hadju, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1996. ISBN 0374194386.

External link

• Billy Strayhorn Songs, Inc Site